Can dump for ice machines



May 14, 1935. w. H, AUBREY CAN DUMP FOR ICE MACHINES 3 Sheets-SheetFiled Dec. 2, 1952 May 14, 1935. t W H, AUBREY 2,001,008

CAN DUMP FOR ICE MACHINES Filed Deo. 2, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 @Mama/1A IMay 14, 1935. l Wy H, AUBRY 2,00L008 CAN DUMP FOR ICE MACHINES FiledDec. 2, 1952 :s sheets-sheen s Patented May 14, 1935 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE CAN DUMP FOR ICE MACHINES William Henry Aubrey,Waynesboro, Pa.,Y :as-

signor to Frick Company, Waynesboro, Pa., a Y .corporation ofPennsylvania H Application December 2, 1932, Serial No. 645,473

11 Claims.

` are directed against the outside ofthe cans until the ice block isthawed loose and slides out;

An object oi the invention is to remove ice from the container or canwith a minimum amount of thawing to reduce the amount of ice melted fromthe block.

i A further object, is to provide more sanitary meansfor removing icefrom the cans, and iurn ther to prevent thawing water from entering intothe storage room.

Further objects are to provide means for conserving space and water andto remove the ice from the .cans more quickly than has been possibleheretofore. i 'p Referring to the accompanying drawings, which are madea part hereof and on which similar .reference characters indicatesimilar parts, i -v i Figure l is a iront elevation of the device,

Figure 2, a side elevation,

Figure 3, a plan View,

Figure 4, a diagrammatic view in side elevation showing the can inupright position,

Figure 5, a similarview showing the can in inverted position, y Figure6, a similar View showing the can tilted for the ice block to slide out,

Figure 7, `a detail view of an operating valve showing the valve inneutral position, and

I Figure 8, a side elevation of a portion of a modied form of machine.

In the drawings I0 indicates a cradle which is supported upon journals lI mounted in bearings I2 in suitable' standards or supports i3. Thesestandards may be secured upon a suitable founbolts I5. The cradleconsists of a suitable frame work in which ice cans 42 may be supportedand in which they are held by clamps It which may be hinged at I'I to aportion of the frame oi the cradle and may be locked in closed positionby latches I8. The frame is provided with guides 43 tohold the ice cansin place. The outer end of one ofthe shafts Il carries a gear or pinionI9 which meshes with a rack 20, the rack being held against the pinionby means of a dation or frame It in` any. suitable way as by,

roller 2l. A piston rod 22 connects the rack to a' piston not shownoperating in cylinder 23. Pressure fluid linesA 24 and 25 deliverpressure uid which may be water from a pipe 26 to operate the rack 20.Pressure iiuid is controlled -5 to the cylinder 23 by means of amanually 0perable valve 2l. The construction of the valve is such thatwhen the operating handle 20 is in one position such as that shown inFigure `I the rack 20 will be locked in iixed position. When the handleis turned to thelright as viewed in Figure 2, port 29 maythen connectpipe 2i with exhaust pipe ,.30 andport 3l will connect inlet pipe 25with pipe 25 to apply pressure to the lower end of the cylinder 23 tomove the rack 1'5" 20 upwardly. `When the handle 2t is moved to the leftto connect port 25 with pipe 24 through port 3l, pressure will beapplied to thetop of thecylinder 23 and exhausted from the bottom tomove the rack downwardly. 20 Means are applied also for automaticallydelivering warm water or steam against the sides of the can.A This meanscomprises pipes 32 having perforations or spray nozzles 44 directed tospray fluid against the sides of the cans. A supply,A pipe is connectedat 33 for supplying warm water or steam 'to the pipes 32. A flexibleconduit 30 connects the pipe 33 with the pipes 32 and a'valve 35controls admission of warm fluid to the pipes 32. The valve 35 isnormally held in a closed condition by a spring not shown but which maybe of any well known construction. This valve has a stem 36 which isengageable by a cam 3l on the side of the cradle so that when thecradle'is inverted the stem 36. is depressed by the cam to open thevalve 35 to spray warm fluid against the Sides of the. ice cans. i

A slide 38 is positioned beneath the cradle.` This slide is arcuate inshape Vbut the' center of the arc is eccentric with respect to thecenter of theV shaft Il. Beneath the slide 38 is an opening 39 fordraining off the water used in thawing the ice from the sides of thecans.

In operation the cans in which the ice has been frozen are positionedwithin the cradle while the cradle is in the upright position shown inFigures l and 4. The cans are locked in position by means of the latch'and clamps I3 and I8. The valve 2l is then manipulated to deliverpressure from line 20 through line'24 to the top of the cylinder 23.This rotates the cradle on its axis II inverting it into position shownin Figure 5 to invert the ice cans. When the ice'cans haveV moved einverted vertical 55 i position the cam 3T engages valve stem 36 to openthe valve 35 and deliver warm fluid through the spray nozzles againstthe sides of the cans. The ice block as soon as it is thawed loose fromthe walls of the can drops upon the slide 38. The valve lever 28 is thenmoved to deliver fluid from pressure line 26 to pressure line 25. Thiswill move the rack 2@ upwardly to rotate the cradle counterclockwise. Asthe cradle approaches the position shown in Figure 6 the lower end ofthe block of ice will gradually slide out of the can following thecurvature of the slide 38. The block of ice therefore lis kept con:tinually moving out of the canwhich prevents it from freezing again tothe sides of the can. When the edge of the block of ice has reached theupper end of the slide 38 the block then slides out upon a slide 40 fromwhich itslides to a place of storage or is picked up.

It may be feasible to position the slide s' that the block will slide bygravity out of the cans as soon as the blocks are thawed loose from thecans. Such possible construction is shown in Figure 8. Here the slide ilis positioned beneath the cradle and has a downward slope so that theblock of ice slides out practically as soon as it is thawed loose upon aslight movement of the cradle.

While a hydraulic motor and rack and pinion operative connection havebeen illustrated for tilting the cradle, I do not limit myself to thisspecific arrangement for accomplishing this purpose. The cradle might betilted for example, by any suitable motor geared directly to shaft il ormight even be operated manually through a suitable train of gears.

By my arrangement the ice does not come in contact with the thawingwater. Where the ice cans are immersed in tanks of warm water portionsof the ice are exposed to this water. The water in these tanks soonbecomes contaminated with salt and otherwise quite dirty. My arrangementprevents this, since only clean warm water or steam is sprayed againstthe out'- sides of the cans.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes maybe made in my device without departing from the spirit of the inventionand therefore I do not limit myself to what is shown in the drawings anddescribed in the specification, but only as indicated by the appendedclaims.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A device for removing ice from the container in which it is frozencomprising a cradle, means for supporting the container in the cradle, amotor for inverting the cradle to invert the container, and meansoperated by the cradle for causing the application of thawing fluid tothe outside of the container to thaw the ice loose from the containerand permit it to drop by gravity from the container, substantially asset forth.

2. A device for removing ice from the containers in which it is frozencomprising a cradle, a motor for inverting the cradle, a plurality ofconduits adapted to contain warm fluid for thawing the ice from thecontainer side, a valve in control of said Warm fluid, a cam on saidcontainer adapted to engage said valve to open it when the container ismoved toV an inverted position, and means for tilting the cradle topermit the ice to move by gravity from the container to the slide,substantially as set forth.

3. A device for removing ice from the containers in which it is frozencomprising a cradle, means for holding the container in the cradle,means for inverting the cradle to invert the containers, means forapplying warm fluid to the container to thaw the ice from the sides ofthe container, an eccentric slide arranged so that as the cradle isreturned from inverted toward upright position the ice will be caused tomove by gravity gradually out of the container to prevent its freezingto the walls of the container, substantially as set forth.

4. A device for removing ice from containers in which it is frozencomprising means for in verting the container, a fluid motor foroperating such means, a valve for operating such motor, a supply linefor warm uid, a valve in said line, and means for opening said valvewhen the container is in inverted position to supply thawing fluid tothe walls of the container, substantially as set forth.

5. A device of the kind described comprising a support for canscontaining ice frozen therein, means for inverting said containers andfor thawing the ice free from the sides thereof, a slide for receivingthe ice, said support being positioned remotely from the ice storagewhereby thawing Water is prevented from spilling into the ice storage,and means for limiting the removal of ice from the can to cause theblock of ice to slide gradually from the can to the said slidesubstantially as set forth.

6. A device for removing ice from the cans in which it is frozencomprising a support for ice cans, a shaft carrying said support, saidshaft having an operating wheel on one end, a motor operativelyconnected with said wheel, a valve in control of said motor, a pluralityof warm fluid conduits positioned adjacent said support, a Valve incontrol of said warm fluid and a cam on said support engageable withsaid valve to apply warm fluid against the sides of the ice containersAwhen the support has been moved by the said motor to an invertedposition, substantially as set forth.

'7. A device for removing ice from the containers in which it is frozencomprising a support for said containers, a fluid motor for invertingsaid support to invert the container, a plurality of conduits adapted tocontain warm fluid for thawing ice from the sides of the container, avalve in control of said conduits, means on the container adapted toengage said valve to apply warm fluid when the container has reachedinverted position, and a slide positioned beneath the saidsupport, saidslide being arcuate and. having the center of the arc eccentric withrespect to the center of rotation of the support whereby ice which isthawed from the walls of the container will be permitted to slidegradually out of the container as the container is moved from invertedback toward upright position, substantially as set forth.

8. A device for removing ice from the container in which it is frozencomprising a support for the container, means for inverting the support,means for supplying thawing fluid to the walls of the container to thawthe ice loose from the Walls, a valve for controlling said fluid, and acam on said support adapted to open said valve only when saidv containeris inverted approximately to a vertical position.

9, A device for removing ice from the container in which it is frozencomprising means for inverting the container, means for supplyingthawing fluid to the walls of the container, said last-mentioned meansincluding spray nozzles directed against a side ofthe container andmounted to move with the container, a valve controlling the supply ofthawing fluid and means operatively associated With the means forinverting the container for opening said valve when the container is inan inverted position.

1Q. A device for removing ice from the container in which it is frozencomprising means for inverting the container, means for supplyingthawing iiuid to the Walls of the container, an arcuate slide to receivethe block of ice from 1 the inverted container and arranged to permitthe ice to slide gradually out of the container as the container isreturned from the inverted position, and means to control the supply ofthawing fluid in accordance With the position of the container.

1l. A device for removing ice from the container in which it is frozencomprising means for inverting the container, means for supplyingthawing fluid to the Walls of the container, an arcuate slide to receivethe block of ice from the inverted container and arranged 'to permit theice to slide gradually out of the container as the container is returnedfrom the inverted position, said arcuate slide having elevated sides tocollect the thawing uid, and a drain from the bottom of said slide.

WILLIAM HENRY AUBREY.

